Berkeley Student Cooperative
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| Founded | 1933 |
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| Type | Housing cooperative |
| Focus | Student housing, affordable housing, sustainability |
| Location |
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Key people
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Kevin Heraldo Ramirez, president Kim Benson, Executive director |
| Website |
berkeleystudentcooperative.org bsc.coop |
Kevin Heraldo Ramirez, president
Berkeley Student Cooperative (BSC) (formerly known as University Students' Cooperative Association or the USCA) is a student housing cooperative serving primarily the University of California, Berkeley, but open to any full-time post-secondary student. The BSC houses over 1,300 students in 17 houses and 3 apartment buildings. Food is provided to residents of the 17 houses, which also offer boarding meal plans to non-residents. Residents of the houses are expected to perform work (typically 5 hours per week) as part of their rental agreement, which keeps rent low. The BSC is led by a board of directors elected by the residents.
The University of California Students' Cooperative Association (UCSCA) was founded in 1933 to meet the need for affordable student housing during the Great Depression. Berkeley YMCA director Harry Lees Kingman inspired 14 students to start the first housing cooperative in Berkeley, doing workshifts in exchange for lower rent. In the fall of 1933 the students leased Barrington Hall which housed 48 students. Sherman Hall, Sheridan Hall, and Euclid Hall all opened during this era, as well as Stebbins Hall, the first women's co-op.
After World War II the UCSCA purchased Ridge House and Cloyne Court Hotel to meet the demand from the increase in the student population caused by the GI Bill. Due to changes in state law, the organization changed its name to the University Students' Cooperative Association (USCA). In the 1960s the co-op opened one of the first co-ed student housing projects in the nation, Ridge Project, later renamed Casa Zimbabwe in the 1980s. The 1960s and 1970s saw a decline in the popularity of the Greek System in Berkeley, which allowed the USCA to purchase defunct sororities which became Davis House, Andres Castro Arms, and Wolf House.
The 1970s saw the opening of Lothlorien Hall, a vegetarian theme house, and Kingman Hall, both of which formerly belonged to small religious organizations (Lothlorien belonging to the One World Family and Kingman Hall to the Berkeley Living Love Center). This decade also saw the construction and opening of the Rochdale Village Apartments, one of BSC's three apartment facilities. The others are Fenwick Weaver's Village and the Northside Apartments. BSC also owns two graduate and re-entry student houses, The Convent and Hillegass/Parker House, formerly Le Chateau.
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